Igbos And The Search For A Presidential Material

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State stirred the hornets again when he said he has his sights on the presidency. I have no grudges over his presidential ambition because it is his inalienable right to aspire for any public office in the land. I have always aligned myself to the School of Thought that believes that it has become expedient and overdue an Igbo holds the keys of Aso Rock, Abuja. A historical retrospection of Nigeria’s political life will expose or unveil the fact that Igbos have been systematically denied the presidency. After Late General Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi who ruled the nation for 6 months before he was brutally murdered in 1966, the last time an Igbo came close to the nation’s corridors of power was in 1979 when Dr. Alex Ekwueme was handpicked to be Vice President to Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari. The rest is history. I have on this column expended so much time and energy reiterating the need and importance for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction come 2015. I say so because it is due. And I will never cease to carry on this campaign. Gone are the days Igbos embark on political voyages that take us nowhere. Gone are the days we paddle our political boats to the shores of those who claim to share cultural and political affinity with Igbos as a basis to earn our support to oil their political aspirations. It was on this score that Igbos backed Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for the Presidency in 2011. We did so because we were told he is one of us, that his middle name is Azikiwe. Our response to this political dummy was only beneficial to Jonathan and his South- South kinsmen as Igbos behaved like zombies and threw in their massive weight of support to aid the success of Jonathan’s presidential ambition. What we have seen as reward for this erroneous political handshake is the brutal killing and maiming of Igbos in the North who have become victims of the onslaught launched by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram. Further, we have remained onlookers than partakers in the nation’s political chessboard. We are more like apron strings, willing tools in the hands of those who will always desire to use and dump us to achieve their political aims and objectives. Our ordeal in the present political configuration in the country remains the same like it was in the post independence era. We have continued to be the weeping child of the nation’s political family and it will remain so until we discover a Moses that will take us out of the political Egypt we are. But who is the Moses, the deliverer of our Time. Is it Rochas Okorocha? eem…. I was impressed when he told The Sun Newspapers in an interview that he is keen to aspire for the presidency of the land. But like an antelope, that watches before it leaps, Okorocha is unsure when he will run for the presidency. However, his mere pronouncement of intent to run for the highest office of the land is not enough to indicate how serious he is for the plum job. I was displeased that he gave an incoherent answer as to when he will contest for the presidential election. He said ‘if I am going to contest for president in 2015, then my one term ends. If I am going to contest in 2019, then it is better to face what I am doing……’ From his response, he is interested in the presidential contest but unsure when he will contest. He appears to be dilly- dallying on the subject for now. Apparently, he may be watching the political scenario in the country and the body language of the shoeless schoolboy cum President who may run for another term in 2015. In otherwords, Okorocha’s presidential aspiration can be likened to be one at a T- road junction who is unsure which side of the road he will follow. If he sights a caterpillar coming from the right, he will swerve his car to the left and if a bulldozer is coming from the left, he will turn to the right. And what happens when he sees both the caterpillar and bulldozer on both sides of the road? Your guess is as good as mine. This illustration simply brings to the fore the issue of Igbo leaders who are either unsure of their political moves or simply lack the nerve and political stamina to embark on the journey that will take us to the presidency. Much as I believe that Igbos cannot win the presidency of this great nation without a handshake with other ethnic tribes, it is important that Igbo leaders who are desirous to take Jonathan’s seat in 2015 must not gamble or play hanky panky with the idea. If Governor Okorocha wants to be President, he must be specific with when he wants to contest for the exalted office. He owes it as a duty to Ndi Imo to tell us why he wants to abandon his rescue mission in Imo State in 2015 and seek for a higher office or why he wants to go for the presidential diadem in 2019. I respectfully advise Governor Okorocha that a leader in his mould should not be seen to be speaking from both sides of his mouth. A leader should not be seen to be unsure of what he or she wants to achieve. A General should be sure of his instincts; else he jeopardizes the lives of his foot-soldiers. It is imperative that he realises that time is of great significance and crucial in realising any political ambition. He should tell us why he is unsure of when he wants to run for the presidency and why he thinks his new found political fortress- the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is the right platform that will take him to Aso Rock, Abuja. For me, APGA alone cannot make him or anyone from Igboland President of Nigeria. The party is weak structurally. It is yet to expand its tentacles beyond Igboland and has been infested with the bug of crisis. With a meagre two States in its kitty, a senator in the senate and a handful of House of Rep members, APGA does not have the wherewithal to take any serious contender to the presidency. Since Okorocha has rejected the PDP because of his horrendous experience in the party in the past, which other political platform can convey him or any other presidential hopeful from Igboland to the presidency in 2015? Is it the PDP, I doubt. The PDP has lost the sympathy and confidence of Nigerians because of its seeming inability to provide Nigerians with visible dividends of democracy. The party has never shown concern for Igbos as it has continued to brazenly display it’s apathy towards the Igbo nation. Thrice, the PDP has disgraced Igbo leaders. The first victim was one of its founding fathers; Dr. Alex Ekwueme who was humiliated at the Jos Presidential convention of the party in 1993.The party preferred the candidature of a military non democrat like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as its presidential candidate than to an undiluted democrat like Ekwueme. Other Igbo sons such as Chief Vincent Ogbulafor and Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo were not only stripped of the national chairmanship of the party in a disgraceful manner, but have been branded political lepers in a party that contributed to its formation, growth and development. So, how will PDP, a party that has not hidden its disdain for Igbos convey an Igbo to Aso Rock in 2015 or beyond? This is why I encourage the efforts of an illustrious Igbo leader, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), who has deemed it important to initiate an alliance of major opposition political parties in the country that will not only halt the rampaging moves of the PDP in 2015, but provide Igbos and Nigerians a broad political platform to serve as an alternative to the ruling party. Aside the issue of political platform, the quest for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction in 2015 is not for unsure or reluctant Igbo leaders. It is a serious project that requires men of strong will, whose political antecedents in the past or present qualifies them for the highest office in the land. Igbos cannot afford to put their political destiny in the hands of those whose stint in governance leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Having waited for so long in the bid to clinch the presidency, it will be a disservice to Nigerians if Igbos give the nation a leader that is still learning the art of leadership and who is yet to graduate from the school of Governance. What we need as President in a fast changing world is a ready- made leader who has regards for the rule of law and sees it as an integral component of modern democracy. We need to present to Nigerians an Igbo that is acceptable to the North and will be embraced by the South. An Igbo without blemish, who has a clear vision of how to take Nigeria out of the present doldrums it has found itself, a leader well schooled in the art of governance and leadership, a leader with the right temperament, a bridge builder who sees everyone irrespective of political affiliation as a strategic partner in the quest to build a united Nigeria. An Igbo leader who is not loquacious, who believes in the power of consultations and not bravado approach to issues, a leader who has purged himself of vengeance, a leader that believes in the power of dialogue, a leader who is not quick to temper, who listens and who sees Efiks, Ijaws, Fulanis, Jukuns, Beroms, Tivs as his constituency. Such an Igbo leader is the ideal person for Aso Rock in 2015.